A business mogul finds himself on the cusp of bankruptcy just after his big, glamorous 60th birthday party. Adapted from Tom Wolfe’s much-celebrated novel, Regina King’s limited series A Man in Full is a bummer. Set in Atlanta, Georgia, the series never takes itself seriously until the closing moments. The 60-minute man, Atlanta’s favorite boy Charlie Croker, plays a toned-down Donald Trump, but the character still holds some morals compared to the former President. In this article, we’re discussing the highlights of A Man in Full.
Spoilers Ahead
Why is Charlie getting the stick from the bank?
Charlie Croker is a real estate developer and pretty much a celebrity in Atlanta for his heroics in a university football match. Now, as a business mogul, Charlie faces the wrath of the bank for being over a billion dollars in debt. Charlie’s own vanity and reckless spending overtook his profits in business, and the two bankers, Harry Zale and Raymond Peepgrass, are out to get him. Raymond has spent most of his career getting treated like an insect by Charlie, and now he’s finally got the courage to stand up to him, hopping on Harry’s back. Harry humiliates Charlie in front of his board members, and Charlie has no defense in the unforeseen circumstances. Raymond mentioned to Harry how Charlie’s armpits sweat and look like saddlebags when he’s threatened, and Harry manages to squeeze his pride just enough to make him sweat. Charlie calls up his attorney, Roger White, to look for solutions, but Roger too has little to offer him. The mad tycoon won’t be calm in the face of the very real threats that can take his ship down, and he swears he’ll get back at Harry and Raymond. He visits Raymond to threaten him in a desperate attempt, but Raymond’s newfound courage is enough to withstand the wrath of the man he’s so intimidated by.
Can Charlie secure a White Knight to save his empire?
With all of his properties and private jets at risk, Charlie schedules a meeting with the bank once again with Roger by his side. Harry is worried about whether he can stand up to the man who shook his hand with such might that he couldn’t free himself. A former military man, Harry believes a man is only dangerous if he knows for certain that he can take his opponent down to the ground. The meeting doesn’t go nearly as well as Charlie hoped for, as Harry destroys his case once again. Charlie approaches a wealthy businessman, Herb Richman, to be his White Knight and save the company. He takes Herb and his wife to Turmptine, his very own 29 thousand-acre quail plantation, to ‘wow’ him. Charlie takes his young trophy wife, Serena, and his son, Wally, to portray himself as a family man in front of the Richmans. Upon their arrival, Charlie wrestles a rattlesnake in the stables to prove his manliness to the couple. His crazy strategy of impressing Herb goes out of line when he takes him and his wife to see his horses mating. Herb’s wife, a member of PETA, gets upset by the gross visual, and they leave immediately after this. Charlie’s misfortune doesn’t end here, as he finds Harry Zale waiting for him at the airport to notify him that his precious private jet is being seized by the bank.
How does Conrad end up in prison?
Charlie’s assistant, Jill Hensley, faces a crisis when she finds out her husband, Conrad, has been arrested for assaulting a police officer. Conrad got into an argument with the police when he saw his car getting towed unfairly. When he resisted, a cop pulled him out of the car and started punching him. In self-defense, Conrad knocked the cop out and now awaits his hearing in the courtroom. Jill is pregnant, and she communicates with Charlie for a solution. Charlie sends Roger to get Conrad bail, but his not being a criminal attorney doesn’t help Conrad’s case. The racist judge forces a million-dollar bond on Conrad and sends him to a notorious prison until his bail. Charlie agrees to pay off the amount, but the bank freezes his assets in Georgia, and the transfer doesn’t go through. Conrad finds himself in a prison where rapists and murderers reside, and he’s the fresh new target for them.
Why does the mayor need Charlie?
Mayor Wes Jordan is running for office against a conservative opponent, Norman Bagovitch. Fearing Bagovitch might have an upper hand on him, Wes contacts Roger, his old pal, to help him get dirt on Bagovitch. Wes knows that Bagovitch sexually assaulted or raped a woman thirty years ago, and he believes Bagovitch’s then-pal Charlie must know about the victim. He tries to persuade Roger to bring his boss to the table, and he’ll drive off the hounds from the bank who are crippling Charlie. Charlie is getting a new knee surgery done, and he gets a new robotic knee from the doctor, which is still in clinical testing. Seeing no way out, Roger convinces Charlie to approach the mayor.
How does Raymond romance Charlie’s ex-wife?
Raymond is not as insignificant as he seems, as he too has his own scandals to take care of. A Finnish woman named Srija has borne him a child and now demands a settlement. Srija and Raymond eventually settle on a middle ground, and they have a good relationship with each other apart from it. Raymond starts to flirt with Martha Croker at a gala. The two hit it off, and they soon begin to go on dates. Charlie notices Raymond’s interest in his ex-wife, and there’s nobody he would like to crush harder than Raymond. Martha asks Raymond what happens to her and Wally if Charlie goes bankrupt, and Raymond assures her that he’ll try his best to safeguard her interests. Raymond isn’t a man who just hates Charlie; he somewhat admires him and is deeply envious of his life. By dating his ex-wife, Raymond wants to be the big red dog like him.
What does Conrad do in prison?
Conrad has lived his life abiding by rules and being a good Samaritan. He finds himself sleeping a few feet away from his cellmate taking a dump, and that’s not even the least of his concerns in prison. Rotto, an inmate, keeps his eye on Conrad, intending to sexually exploit him. Conrad’s cellmates Five-O and Mutt advise him to keep his head down and not draw attention, but he can’t help it when he finds a weak, feeble boy getting injured at the hands of Rotto. Conrad reports the body to the guards, bringing more heat on him, and Rotto pays him a personal visit before trying to call Conrad a cutie and grope him. Conrad fights back and breaks his arm, complicating his own bail.
Can Charlie find a way out of the mess?
Charlie invites Martha’s best friend, Joyce Newman, for lunch. It was she who got raped by Bagovitch all those years ago, but she refuses to come out. She doesn’t have a clear memory of the encounter, and her uncertainty and her resentment towards Charlie play into this factor. Charlie decides to shake hands with Wes anyway, and Wes gives him a thorough script to break the scandalous news. Wes plans on honoring Charlie for his football heroics, and he’s supposed to reveal the truth about Bagovitch in the ceremony. In return, Wes uses his influence to ease Charlie’s pain, and Raymond and Frank get the worst of it. The president of the bank calls them up and asks them to shift their focus to someone else. Raymond is in disbelief, and he refuses to let his biggest enemy come out of this unharmed. Raymond has already been plotting with Herb to buy Charlie’s assets at a lower price and keep a hefty commission for himself, but this squanders all his plans to make it big.
Did Roger prove Conrad’s innocence?
Roger manages to pay the required amount for the bond after Charlie gets saved. The judge still denies bail to Conrad because of his assault on the inmate in prison. Roger presents the assaulted officer Smith with a question about what happened. He had earlier given a subpoena to Smith, and he was left with no other choice but to attend the hearing. Roger argues that on the day Conrad was arrested, he punched Smith only out of fear of his own life. The bodycam footage of one of the cops and the CCTV footage of the area clearly show Smith manhandling Conrad before he fought back. After he got hit with a taser, the tow truck driver viciously kicked him multiple times. Roger also makes Smith confess that his actions weren’t led by Conrad’s actions but by his previous encounters with people of color. Roger claims that in a country where a white cop acts out of fear, what would a black man do when he sees two armed cops and an angry truck driver? Roger reminds the judge that the court doesn’t just pass judgments based on evidence but also common sense. He leaves it to the judge to come up with a judgment that serves justice, and even the conservative judge understands his point. The judge passes the judgment, and Conrad is a free man again.
What does Charlie do in the press conference?
Charlie memorizes his script before reaching the venue, and he’s determined to do the right thing for himself. He has brought Wally with him and wants to set an example for him on how his father fights for himself. When Charlie takes the stage after accepting the honorary football from the mayor, he gets second thoughts regarding what he’s about to do. Charlie sees Wally sitting in the crowd, looking at his father. Now, a man can be evil, but the wish to be a hero in front of their kid is a paternal instinct. Charlie chooses not to sling mud at Bagovitch, and he just promotes Wes Jordan as the rightful mayor instead. Wes is furious and threatens to ruin him while they stand for pictures, but Charlie has done one thing right, earning the respect of his son. Charlie promoting Wes does help him in some way, as the news channels report that his chances of getting re-elected got significantly better after Charlie’s words.
How does Charlie die?
Raymond didn’t want to let Charlie go that easy, and he devised a plan to hurt his ego. As Raymond himself is busy romancing Martha, he has also created a new entity, ‘Big Red Dog LLC.’ Charlie gave Concourse’s 28 percent shares each to Martha and Wally as part of the divorce settlement. Now Raymond has used this to spearhead Big Red Dog LLC to acquire the majority of the course. A furious Charlie leaves his house to talk with Martha about it. In the meantime, Raymond has finally gotten the opportunity to get into bed with Martha, and his performance enhancement pill made sure they had a good time. A montage of Raymond and Martha being intimate is interrupted by Charlie’s arrival as he slams the door. Charlie gets in anyway and finds the newly formed couple, who plan to betray him. Raymond doesn’t back down, and he lets his towel down to show the glory of his private part to Charlie. Charlie, in a fit of rage, chokes Raymond to the wall. The hand that grabbed Raymond’s throat gets a seizure, and Charlie is unable to let him go. Charlie suffers from a heart attack trying to not kill Raymond, and both of them die in the process. All of the drama led to the two men lying dead in Martha’s bedroom.
Charlie seemed to have pulled a little win for himself when he chose to do the right thing for his son, but his pride took over him again when Raymond attacked his ego. Charlie Croker’s pride led to his downfall, and despite having a few morally right instincts, the man had it coming. A Man in Full in no way delivers the way it should’ve, and to forcefully pack the different storylines into a six-episode series doesn’t work out. What should’ve been a direct competitor to HBO’s Succession ended up being a show that was failed by its own makers.
